The Fanning Four

I'm typing from my phone, sitting on an air mattress in our old house and I have a cold. So forgive me if this post has typos are is disjointed- wait, that's no different from normal so nevermind. I just wanted to update you on what's been going on with us this week. You may remember that Bethy has had a bad cough for about three months now. It started as a cold and just never went away. We've had our carpets steam cleaned twice and have even spent weeks trying to clean them again ourselves-so much so that we broke the trigger on the steam vac. We also had our a\c totally cleaned out. Bethy continued to cough and this week she got a cold again. When I took her to the doctor, Bethy was diagnosed with asthma. I was a little caught of guard and Bethy was not interested in staying long enough for me to ask questions. So in a few hours, Tom and I have an appointment with the doctor to ask some questions. We'll let you know what we learn. When Bethy and I got home from...

We have three clocks hanging over a world map in our den. The clock on the left is China time and I like to sit in the recliner and dream about what Caleb is doing on the other side of the world. Last night I pondered this aloud to my husband. He replied, "Probably crying until he realizes no one is going to pick him up." You can imagine my response to my sweet, realist husband. He said, "Well, it's true, isn't it?!' And he's right. It is true. There's a chance Caleb is in a foster home or in a really great orphanage. But the reality of a typical orphanage is that you have a nanny not a Momma and a Daddy. There are so many mouths to feed and cries to hush that babies wait too long to be held, if they get held at all. Don't let me give you the impression that my husband is not sensitive to my feelings- he's come a long way since we met (he is an engineer so feelings weren't his speciality) and provides constant support that has deeply enh...

The mailman came about three hours earlier than usual yesterday and he delivered our homestudy! So, I packaged it all up, loaded Bethy in the car and FedEx'd it to United States Customs and Immigrations (USCIS) office. With our homestudy is a cover letter, some proof of identity, our agency license and a big fat check. All in all .45 lbs of paperwork that took 2 months to complete. It will be delivered to the office in TX by 10:30 this morning. I felt sick to my stomach sending that package off. A combination of nervousness and excitement. I hope everything is ok with our paperwork. I hope the process goes quickly. I can't believe we're on to the next step already! We're getting closer to a referral! So, what now? Well, we wait for an appointment to get our fingerprints done and then get USCIS approval. In the meantime, we complete our dossier paperwork (I'm almost done) and submit our application to the agency for the "Child of Promise" program (meani...

Our Agency gave final approval of our homestudy on Friday and it was put in the mail that day. So either today or tomorrow, I should have it in my hands. From there it goes to the US Customs and Immigrations Office where they will give their approval for us to adopt. This will take at least a month and up the three months. It also requires a trip to Jacksonville for fingerprinting. What an exciting day for us!!!!!!!

The home has been reviewed by our agency's China Team and only needed two changes, one by our agency and one by us. Hopefully I can get our part figured out quickly so we can be on our way to the next step! Wanted to say that we our so over the moon for our friends who are adopting two girls in Nicaragua. Their journey began on our mission trip in 2009 and has taken them on quite the journey. Today, Nica's version of DCF approved them to be the guardians of the girls. I am not sure what the next step is but I do know this was a huge one and a real life miracle if you ask me! Living proof that you can't tell God what He can or can't do because he is bigger than even the red tape and bureaucracy of life! Their journey gives me strength and hope every day! News on the home front? We're spending a ton less money on diapers these days!!! Woohooo!!!!! I will be cleaning carpets for a VERY long time I am glad we're cleaning carpets instead of buying new floors! ...

As you approach my house today, you will be greeted by a carpet on the front sidewalk. It got soaking wet when the Hoover Vac leaked half a gallon of water in our front entryway. And if you can get in the front door (I did clear it last night to prevent a fire hazard) you will be greeted by a recliner, end table, and other random furniture placed there while we clean our carpets. And in our living room? Every toy from the playroom plus all the regular furniture. I could go on but I'll spare you. Just know that our house is in chaos. But it has to get worse before it gets better right? So keeping the above scene in mind, yesterday evening the doorbell rang. So, of course I ran out through the garage and scared the guy who was, of course expecting me to come to front door. Silly guy. It happened to be the ADT Security salesman (ironic that I scared the security guy?). "Blah, blah, blah"- he did his little sales pitch. My sweet daughter read my mind and began to loudly, bu...

Can I just say that I'm sorry? I am the one who really wanted carpet in our new house. I wanted the softness and the homey feel of it. And when we found this house, the carpets looked so nice. No stains or anything.  But now, two carpet cleanings later, we still have a coughing two year old. She's been on breathing treatments, steroids, allergy meds, and this week she'll go for allergy testing. And I've heard the dreaded "A" word more times that I feel comfortable with. "Asthma"...not usually diagnosed until 3 years of age, but still, it's been mentioned . UGH!!! So, is it the carpets? Is it the move away from the beach to a more wooded area? Is it preschool? Again, I say, I am SO sorry! My husband is so sweet that he hasn't even hinted at saying, "I told you so." But he would be justified, because he did tell me so. And I still wanted carpet. But I love him for not saying "I told you so." He's sweet like that. We...